Knowing is half the battle

New York City passed a law requiring restaurants to post the calories of their menu items. New Yorkers, and visitors, have been getting a bit of sticker shock as a result.

A client of mine visited NYC last week and shared her experience with calories being up front and center –

Let me tell you how this law has impacted my day:

Breakfast arrives: it looks like 1 serving of quiche. Menu says the quiche is 770 calories. Now it’s two servings of quiche because I cut it in half immediately. I ate half for breakfast and half for lunch.

Then I bounced into Starbucks for a Chai tea latte and a pastry. I walked out with only a latte because I didn’t see the calorie count of the latte until AFTER I ordered it. Needless to say, I skipped the pastry. Good thing is, I did get a LOT of walking in today.

Taking the fun out of eating. No telling what’s for dinner. Probably a salad. C’est la vie.

Earlier this week, I mysteriously found a McDonald’s chocolate shake in my hand (I am not exactly the spokesperson for good choices). Interestingly, I didn’t even really want it, I just happened to be passing a McDonald’s. And a bank. See, I’ve made it a rule not to pay for fast food with a debit card which generally works well as a diet tool since I never have cash. Therefore, in order to get this shake that I didn’t even want, I had to go to the drive through ATM where I was reminded that my driver’s side window doesn’t work and had to open the door to complete my transaction. Did this then stop me from driving through the McDonald’s and having to explain to the drive thru people that my window was broken? No! Something deep in my brain was determined to get this shake regardless of any inconvenience or embarrassment to my person.

Would having that one last reminder that the shake was 440 calories have stopped me? Maybe not that time. But quite possibly the next. If I’d hestitated for even a second while thinking about those calories and just driven past the turn into the bank I would have been spared not only the calories but also the subsequent guilt. Perhaps it does take some of the fun out of eating out, but if it helps me make better choices and feel less guilty in the long run then I’m all for it.

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1 thought on “Knowing is half the battle”

Be glad we don’t live near Chick-fil-a, home of the Doom (Cookies and Cream) Milkshake. 18 ounces of pure cookies and creaminess that also packed with 700 calories, 33 grams of fat and an astonishing 98 grams of carbohydrates. Since I am not an Olympic athlete, there is no room in my life for such indulgences.

Having the nutrition information front and center really does impact what I choose to eat.